The present invention relates to utilizing portable storage devices (PSD) within a distributed collaborative computing environment that does not necessarily use or require centralized permanent storage of content.
Within the general computer arts there are many trends. One trend is the proliferation of collaborative computing environments in which multiple users can work with common or shared access computer files or content. Another trend is the ubiquity of portable storage devices including jump drives, memory keys, and/or removable storage media (e.g., compact flash, memory stick, etc.).
Portable storage devices come in a variety of types and form factors. They all share one common characteristic that uniquely qualifies them for inclusion in the present invention, portability. Portable storage devices allow users to store and carry large amounts of information inexpensively. A user need only find a computing device loaded with the requisite application software to access and manipulate the content contained by the portable storage devices. Moreover, if the computing device happens to be connected to a network like the Internet, the user can send and receive content to the portable storage device.
A collaborative computing environment generally refers to allowing multiple users using multiple computing devices to access shared or common files or content. Typically a collaborative computing environment maintains a permanent storage area where the content files are centrally managed. Users access the shared content based on an administrative scheme that defines rules of access to the shared files.